Bhupathi-Mirnyi enter Cincinnati Masters final

Indian tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi and his Belarussian partner Max Mirnyi reached their third ATP World Tour final of the year together, beating fifth seeds Luka

Written by Press Trust of India

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Cincinnati :
Indian tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi and his Belarussian partner Max Mirnyi reached their third ATP World Tour final of the year together, beating fifth seeds Lukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach in straight sets in the Cincinnati Masters Tennis Tournament here.

The fourth seeded Bhupathi-Mirnyi pair defeated the Polish-Austrian duo of Kubot and Marach 6-3 6-4 in the semi-finals.

In the final, they face second seeds Americans Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, who saved two set points in the first set en route to a 7-6(8) 7-5 win over Wesley Moodie and Dick Norman.

The Indo-Belarussian pair saved four of the five break points they faced and broke serve three times from eight opportunities as they wrapped up victory in 73 minutes.

They are through to the Cincinnati final for the second time after finishing runners-up to James Blake and Todd Martin in 2002.

Bhupathi and Mirnyi, currently ninth in the 2010 ATP Doubles Team Rankings, are looking to win their first team title since Rome in 2004, having lost in the finals of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments in Miami and Monte Carlo earlier this year.

The Bryans, who will go to number one in the ATP Team Rankings on Monday, have a 46-9 match record on the season and they are coming off their 63rd career title last Sunday at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Toronto.

The Bryans are appearing in their fifth straight final in Cincinnati, winning last year and reaching the final from 2006-08. They also were finalists in 2003.